Two deals are on the cards — affecting MultiChoice and Anglo American — at possibly the worst time on the political calendar. Our politicians are fighting for their lives, and paying attention to the stuff that matters is not on their priority lists. Gyrating and kissing babies comes first in the hope that it brings votes.
After years of suffering in a difficult economy, Anglo American has become a sitting duck that could be broken up and its globally less sexy assets tossed aside collectively as a South African “has been”.
The mining house epitomises South Africa’s postcolonial history like no other company. It represents all the elements of the inflexible dichotomy of opportunity and disaster of the past 30 years.
MultiChoice is a Tintswalo; the imaginary child of South African democracy that Cyril Ramaphosa used to illustrate the ANC’s success. The media giant sprang from pay-TV M-Net and became a continental player, representing the growth of South African capital in the rest of Africa.
Last month French broadcaster Canal+ acted on a mandatory legal requirement to offer to buy the rest of the company after topping the 35% ownership threshold.
At stake is the duty of the national broadcaster. MultiChoice has built platforms that make it the premier pan-African platform for news and entertainment across the continent, creating a democratic necessity for a plurality of voices.
If a company was ever worthy of being defined as a strategic asset, MultiChoice would fit that definition. The common denominator in the proposed Anglo American and MultiChoice deals is the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).
Africa’s biggest fund manager by assets — R2.6-trillion under management as of last year — holds 7% of Anglo and 15.1% of MultiChoice.
Mining minister Gwede Mantashe has fired the first salvo on the Anglo deal, saying he would not support it. BHP’s merger with Billiton in 2001 “never did much for South Africa”. It “dumped coal and then created a small company called South32, which is now marginal,” Mantashe told the Financial Times.
Mantashe’s colleagues will take their time to figure out what’s at stake. Some of the more Machiavellian rent seekers and dealmakers will jump at the opportunity of siding with BHP, or any one of the mining giants considering counter offers for Anglo, in the hope they can jump on board as equity partners.
When the politicians are done kissing babies the idea of using the PIC to protect South African interests in the companies will grow. It won’t be easy, and the process may have gone too far as the world won’t wait for South Africa to get its house in order.
What distracts our politicians so much? Jacob Zuma is one of the factors. The ANC can’t take its eyes off him, even though he has a torrid time running his spaza shop
Still, there’s the matter of competition policy, falling under Ebrahim Patel, the incorrigible minister of trade, industry & competition.
The stage is set for a painful process, coinciding with a political evolution that is beginning to define South Africa as just another destination in the world.
What distracts our politicians so much? Jacob Zuma is one of the factors. The ANC can’t take its eyes off him, even though he has a torrid time running his spaza shop.
On Tuesday, the ruling party ANC will grant him vast media publicity when it hosts his disciplinary hearing at Luthuli House. Zuma must be rubbing his hands with glee; his army will love the chance to spend the day in the Johannesburg city centre.
They will lie and liken the day to those of IFP-ANC, black-on-black violence of the 1990s, when the IFP marched to Shell House. The media will lap it all up, giving airtime to a party that ordinarily would not enjoy this kind of coverage.
Zuma will have learnt in the past couple of months that running a political party is expensive and tiring, especially for an 82-year-old man who has seen better days. So he will be grateful to the ANC for all the mileage and free attention.
His ANC membership was summarily suspended in January, and now serves no positive purpose. If fired, he can appeal internally and eventually take the matter to court. All of that is oxygen he otherwise did not have.
Yet when the hurly-burly of elections is over there will still be a country to run and an increasingly suspicious global business with which to deal. No-one owes South Africa any favours.
• Mkokeli is lead partner at public affairs consultancy Mkokeli Advisory.
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